Projections

It's almost home time and boy am I excited! I have been practically counting down these last few days. We have been keeping fairly busy with trips to Yosemite and mini outings around LA. 

When I get home and sort through all the bazillion photos, I'll post about the highlights from the trip and then we can get back to normal! In case you can't tell, I can't wait for normal again!!

Travelling is super fun... but after almost 3 months away, I can't wait to get back to reality... and to making things! I've been so inspired by the blogs I follow and have compiled a little list of projects I can't wait to start on when I get home (which will be Saturday - we leave on Thursday.. thanks to the time different, we lose a whole day!)

Attempt to make my own stencil pillow like this one.

I have always loved the typography look and have been wanting to add it to our house décor for a long time... Now I might just be able to do it in an inexpensive DIY! Yay.

Knit Socks!

Before I left you might remember I was furiously knitting for my exhibition installation. I never posted any pictures, because I never took any on the night!! But it's still up (I'm hoping) and so I'll make sure I take some before I take it all apart.... Annnyway, moral of the story is that I bought some wool which had a sock pattern on the underside of the paper band that holds it together (what's that thing called?!) and I wanted to try it then but felt like I was cheating by doing any sort of other knitting than for my exhibition haha.... sooo when I get home I really want to try knitting some socks.. I'm a little scared... they seem hard.

Jar for new dates/experiences

One of the things that Mr Peck & I really want to get into this year is trying new things together. We feel like we used to do that stuff when we were dating, but now we kinda got boring. So, this year we are going to try and have a jar full of ideas for dates and things we want to try together. That way when we can't think of an idea for date night, we just pull out one from the jar. So I want to make a nice jar and put a whole list of ideas in it. I'll share the list once I'm done!

Design/Buy an awesome calendar

Along similar lines to No.3, this year I want to start putting exciting things on the calender! I think that seeing events coming up and being able to put things up on the wall is a great way of keeping positive and excited... So if I don't find a really cool calender, my plans are to design one.... 

Try a project with fused plastic bags

I saw this idea a while ago and wanted to try it out but never got around to it... now is my chance! I'm thinking wallets & totes... Can't wait to see how it goes!

But wait, there's more!

I have a whole list of other things to do too... mostly job related. This year is the year I start work... kind of anxious, hopeful and excited all in one... 

So first off I need to get my portfolio looking amazing..

Then I need to apply for a whole heap of jobs..

And then I probably need to buy some work appropriate clothes...

And if all the fails, I need to look into what it will take to start selling my ceramics!

I haven't seen the final product from last years ceramics class. (I glazed them before I left but they didn't get fired yet.) I'm hoping they all came out amazing and that I can somehow do a deal with college to use the ceramics shed... We'll see.

So that's my list! Keep a look out, coz regular posting is about to begin! Yay! So excited :)

Tour of a House: Easy DIY decorating

Hi!

Today I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite elements from our house, and some easy ways to decorate a rental house.

Our house is definitely still a work in progress. We have limited budget and are renting so it's no where near what I wish it was, but it is a house and it is a pretty good one. So, I'm content!

This is a recent little project that I'm half way through. I've been wanting to do it for ages and I finally did it! I knitted socks for my table! hehe. I've seen the dip painted tables (and other things) and love the look. But I also love knitting and have been wanting to incorporate it more into the house. Very simple but cute and adds a splash of colour to the table. The kitchen/dining colour theme is yellow (and leads to the lounge with splashes of red)

I got these books for free from our college library. Every so often they have a book sale and then give away the ones they can't sell. I particularly like the one entitled "How Gertrude Teaches her Children"!  It is a cute way to decorate. The little moose came from Europe somewhere, gift from my mum. Also note pompom (very fun and easy way to add pops of colour) and min mini owl - from Tasmania.  (The lounge is colour-themed red - if you can't tell!) 

Then, there is the massive bean bag I got from ebay (as a gift for Mr Peck) which took Mr Peck and I about 3 hours to fill. It took 6 x 100L bags of beans and was horribly annoying to fill because it has segments and you have to get your arms in the bag to move the beans around constantly to let the others in!! Phew. We did it though, and only ended up with about 1/2 a bag of beans on the floor! Also note the milk crates... budget furniture at it's best!

And this is also another of my recent projects. I am drawing sayings to fill one wall in our lounge room. These are the 4 I have so far (the first resides in the bedroom) and I have ideas for about 8 more. They are just pen and gouache on cartridge paper bluetacked to the wall. If this were our house, I would probably get them frames and make a whole heap of holes in the wall to hang them. But it's not. So bluetac and my DIY washi tape to the rescue!

How to curl your hair without wrangling a curling iron!

Hi!

If you're like me and really struggle with a curling iron or GHD but looove curling your hair then you may just have stumbled upon one of the most exciting posts of your life... Yup. Really!

I am about to change your life with one video. You will be astounded at how easy this process is .. and at the amazing results you can achieve. ... I think I will stop talking it up now, you can judge for yourself (ps, get ready to start laughing at my accent... i kind of rock the bogan aussie thing hehehe)

You too can go:

(my top is from H&M)

How? Just watch!

cleaning the kitchen & decorating.

Well, yesterday I got busy.
I woke up and was going to make some oat cakes for breakfast [as our pantry was looking mighty bare after spending way too much money of random crapola last week and running low on funds this week - {which, by the way sucks and I hate not being able to buy random things especially when everyone around you is... but am beginning to come terms with and slowly accepting that it takes time to build up money and work and all those things that lead to an unstressed financial situation}]

Annnnyway.
Um. where was I!?
Oh yes,.. I always have to start with a clean slate before I cook things.  So I started by washing the dishes... and then I got to wiping the benches {of which there are a lot in my chicken [aka kitchen]} and then I got to moving the appliances around so I could wipe under them.. and then I got to wiping the appliances.. annnd then I got to rearranging the appliances.

So then after that, I actually made my oat cakes, came to the computer to go through some emails & blogs.. and then about 15 mins later I smelt a faint burning smell.. oopsie.. Oat cakes were a little brown {maybe close to chocolate brown} when they are meant to be yellow! and then about 1 min later the oven timer beeps. Hey, thanks oven.. you're swell.

They still tasted ok...
But back to my decorating bit.
I got the urge to make pompoms. They're so soft and fluffy :)
I saw this little picture a while ago {the idea has now spread all over blogland & you can find multiple tutorials if you search for pom pom flowers}

I didn't really love it that much to want to do it..
But I wanted something to put in my painted bottles and what's better than fake flowers... {yeah, quite a bit but shh.. } no really. these are pretty cute for fake things.

So here are mine.. I am going to make more yet but only got around to 2 yesterday..

And just for fun, this is what's written on our blackboard at the moment.. from me to Mr Peck..